Russia, Hungary, and Spain will each have two clubs in the quarterfinals of the Euroleague, while one Greek and one Italian team complete the list of the clubs that will continue the battle for the trophy.
The qualifications have been finished today. Before the last round, there had been two available quarterfinal berths. SIS Roma (Italy) and Dunaujvaros (Hungary) took the last two tickets. They joined the six teams that secured quarterfinals earlier: UVSE (Hungary), Dynamo Uralochka (Russia), Olympiacos (Greece), Kinef (Russia), Mataro (Spain), and Sabadell (Spain).
Day 4, scores – Group A: Orizzonte – Sant Andreu 22:7, UVSE – Lille 10:6; Group B: Mediterrani – Ferencvaros 11:16, CSS Verona – Kinef 11:16; Group C: SIS Roma – Plebiscito 11:11, BVSC – Olympic 10:0 (technical score); Group D: Dunaujvaros – Vouliagmeni 11:9.
2020/21 LEN Euro League Qualifications, Day 4
Group A (Budapest)
Orizzonte – Sant Andreu 22:7 (5:2, 5:2, 5:1, 7:2)
Ekipe Orizzonte: Palmieri 5, Vukovic 3, Garibotti 2, Viacava 2, Aiello 2, Marletta 2, Emmolo 2, Riccioli 2, Barzon 1, Ioannou 1.
CN Sant Andreu: Ferre 3, Mandic 1, Voorvelt 1, Mora 1, Ungria 1.
UVSE – Lille 10:6 (4:2, 3:1, 3:2, 0:1)
UVSE Hunguest Hotel: Abel-Antal 3, Farago 2, Baksa 1, Szegedi 1, Rybanska 1, Telek 1.
Lille UC: Katsimpri 2, Kochetova 2, Hardy 1, Junasova 1.
There were no surprises in the last round of Group in Budapest.
Home team UVSE defeated Lille and climbed into 1st place. Orizzonte Catania demolished Sant Andreu, but that win was enough only for 3rd place since the Italians lost to Dynamo (10:13) and won a point against UVSE (8:8) yesterday. Only a miracle (Lille’s win over UVSE in the last match) would open Orizzonte the doors of the quarterfinals. But, a miracle didn’t happen.
UVSE dictated the pace in the match against Lille from the beginning. Today, the hosts played without its superstar Rita Keszthelyi, but they dominated. After less than three minutes of play, UVSE led 3:0. The Hungarians stretched the advantage to 7:3 by halftime. Early in the third period, UVSE earned a five-goal lead (8:3). They kept the distance until the middle of this quarter and slowed down in the final eight minutes.
Orizzonte showed no mercy to Sant Andreu. Orizzonte finished in 3rd place, but that result is, without any doubt, far from their expectations. Orizzonte is the eight-time Euro League winner. Two years ago, the Catania-based team won the LEN Trophy and the Super Cup. This season, they will battle only for domestic trophies.
1 UVSE (HUN) 4 – 10
2 Dynamo Uralochka (RUS) 4 – 9
3 Orizzonte Catania (ITA) 4 – 7
4 Lille UC (FRA) 4 – 3
5 Sant Andreu (ESP) 4 – 0
Group B (Verona)
Mediterrani – Ferencvaros 11:16 (3:3, 3:5, 0:4, 5:4)
CE Mediterrani: C. Espar 4, Tarrago 3, Toha 2, Duran 1, Crespi 1.
Ferencvaros Telekom: Jenei 3, Illes 3, Kuna 3, Valyi 3, Toth-Csabai 2, Kovesdi 1, Musznay 1.
CSS Verona – Kinef Kirishi 11:16 (2:2, 1:3, 4:4, 4:7)
Vertocar CSS Verona: Bianconi 3, Alogbo 2, Esposito 1, Zanetta 1, Borg 1, Marcialis 1, Gragnolati 1, Carotenuto 1.
Kinef-Surgutneftegas Kirishi: Simanovich 5, Markoch 5, Glyzina 3, Zubkova 2, Evdokushina 1.
The race for the quarterfinal tickets in Group C finished yesterday when Kinef secured 1st and Mataro 2nd place. So, today’s matches weren’t crucial.
Ferencvaros defeated Mataro and finished in 3rd place.
Kinef Kirishi closed the tournament with a victory over host CSS Verona. The Russians had secured 1st place two days ago, so they didn’t have to beat the hosts today to keep the highest position. But, they made no mistake. Kirishi is the only team that managed to achieve a perfect record in the qualifications – 4 wins in 4 games. CSS finished the tournament with no points.
1 Kinef (RUS) 4 – 12
2 Mataro (ESP) 4 – 9
3 Ferencvaros (HUN) 4 – 6
4 Mediterrani (ESP) 4 – 3
5 CSS Verona (ITA) 4 – 0
Group C (Rome)
Plebiscito – SIS Roma 11:11 (3:3, 3:2, 3:4, 2:2)
Plebiscito Padova: Ranalli 5, Queirolo 3, Centani 2, Savioli 1.
SIS Roma: Picozzi 5, Tabani 1, Galardi 1, Avegno 1, Guistini 1, Chiappini 1, Storai 1.
BVSC – Olympic Nice 10:0 (technical score)
Plebiscito needed a win with three and more goals in the last match of the tournament to qualify for the quarterfinals. In any other combination, SIS Roma and Olympiacos would go into the next round.
The Italian clubs fought a hard battle, there were many turns, but Plebiscito never built a three-goal advantage. It only happened once that the distance between the teams was larger than a goal (Roma led 5:3 in the second quarter). The teams entered the last period tied (9:9). In the 26th minute, Picozzi gave Roma a 10:9 lead. Shortly after, Plebiscito’s Dario was excluded for brutality, and her team played with a player less in the following four minutes. SIS missed the penalty awarded after that foul, but it controlled the match until the end and earned a point to remain in 1st place.
1 SIS Roma (ITA) 4 – 10
2 Olympacos (GRE) 4 – 9
3 Plebiscito (ITA) 4 – 7
4 BVSC (HUN) 4 – 3
5 Olympic Nice (FRA) 4 – 0
Group D (Verona)
Dunaujvaros – Vouliagmeni 11:9 (4:1, 2:2, 4:4, 1:2)
Dunaujvaros: Szilagyi 3, Garda 3, Gurisatti 2, Horvath 2, Mahieu 1.
Vouliagmeni: Ninou 3, Kotsia 2, Xenaki 2, Koolhaas 1, Diamantopoulou 1.
Dunaujvaros joined Sabadell in the quarterfinals after beating Vouliagmeni. The Hungarians stunned the Greeks with an opening 3:0 lead. In the middle of the second quarter, they stretched the margin to 6:2. Vouliagmeni put a lot of effort into a comeback. The Greeks reduced the gap to two a few times (4:6, 5:7, 6:8) But, Dunaujvaros controlled the match and regained a four-goal advantage in the 26th minute (11:7). After that, Vouliagmeni scored two consolation goals.
1 Sabadell (ESP) 2 – 4
2 Dunaujvaros (HUN) 2 – 3
3 Vouliagmeni (GRE) 2 – 1
